The tournament
by zlinka
Summary: On a mission in Honey Country, Shikamaru enters a go tournament. But there's more at stake then just a trophy. Ranma12 cross over.


Tsunade, fifth Hokage of Konha, sat at her desk, facing the window that looks out at the city. When she heard the door open she didn't turn around. She knewho it was and what they were there for. As soon as they stood in front of her desk she started speaking.

"There is a go tournament in Honey Country every year. Konoha participates in this tournament. This year is different though. We've been hired to retrieve the first place prize." After saying this Tsunade turns around and takes out a picture. It's a picture of a girl in a yellow gi. She has short blue black hair, big brown eyes, and an angry expression on her face. "This is Akane Tendo. She is the first place prize." Tsunade takes out another picture. It is a picture of a guy in a red chinese style shirt. He has black hair that is pulled back in a braid, blue eyes, and he's making a face at the camera. "This is her fiance, Ranma Saotome. He has entered the tournament to  
win her back. We've been hired by Miss Tendo's sisters to return her to her fiance. Any questions?"

"Yeah. Why us?" asked one of the three chuunin.

"If you can't figure that out then you obviously aren't as smart as your sensei claims you are."

"Ano... w-when does that tournament start?" asked a different chuunin.

"It starts in two days. Plenty of time to get there and scope out the situation."

"How did she end up being the first place prize?" aksed the third chuunin.

"She was kidnapped by an unknown party. Apparently this is a fairly common occurance for her."

"If her fiance is entering the tournament, then what are we doing here?"

"He doesn't know that we've been hired. The clients said that he is good in a fight, but thinking is not his strong suit. Any more questions? No? Good. Now get out of my office." With that Tsunade turned her back to the ninjas and listened to them leave.

"Man," complained one of the chuunin when they left the Hokage's office, "This is going to be troublesome." He wore a green chuunin vest with his black hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail.

"Everything is troublesome to you Shikamaru," Kiba quipped. Akamaru, his giant white dog barked his agreement. Kiba wore a grey coat with black fur lining. His grin made the red slashes down his cheek stand out.

"Hn."

"Isn't it wierd how much Hinata-chan and that girl looked alike?" Kiba asked no one in particular.

This caused Hinata to blush and Shikamaru to glance at embarassed teamate. She did kind of look like the girl in the picture. She had the short blue black hair, but her eyes were a pupilless silver, not brown.

"Seriously," continued Kiba, "Just give Hinata-chan brown eyes and the two could be twins."

"K-Kiba-kun," protested the shy girl.

"Huh?" Kiba asked, snapping back into reality. "Oi, are you sick or something?" he asked, noticing Hinata's flushed skin. This attention just caused Hinata to get redder.

"Let's get going. The sooner we start this the sooner I get done," sighed the lazy ninja.

After going home to pack their gear the three ninjas met at the southern gate to leave. Several miles away from the city they ran into a young man dressed in yellow with a matching spotted bandanna. He was leaning heavily on a walking stick and looked as though he had just finished a stroll though the forest of death. When he spotted them he reached out an caught Kiba's sleeve.

"Do you know where I can find Honey Country?" he asked.

"Ano... you're g-going the wrong way," Hinata offered from behind Kiba.

This caused the lost boy to focus on Hinata.

"Akane-san?" he asked blurrilly. Before Hinata could answer he engulfed her is a hug, having cuaght his second wind. "Akane-san you're safe!" He didn't look at "Akane" but rather stared at the heavens with tears running down his cheeks.

Hinata was having trouble breathing. Both due to her embarassment from the physical contact and the fact that the lost boy was squeezing her so tight.

"O-Oi! Let her go!" Kiba yelled. Akamaru growled his agreement. He grabbed one of the arms that was wrapped tightly around Hinata and pulled at it. There was no response from the extatic boy.

Shikamaru, having watched the whole thing happen rolled his eyes and sighed. After completing the necessary hand gestures, he looked up to make sure that Hinata still needed rescuing. "Kagemane no jutsu." When his shadow connected with Hinata's captur, he spread his arms and raised them over his head. Once free, Hinata took a quick step back gasping for breath. Akamaru ran to her side, sniffing to make sure she was okay.

"Hey! What's going on!" yelled the boy in yellow. He looked at "Akane" for help and noticed something very important."Hey, who are you and what did you do with Akane-san?"

"We don't have any Akanes," Kiba said, drawing the boy in yellow's eye to him (he couldn't move his head thanks to Shikamaru. "Who do you think you are grabbing Hinata-chan like that?"

"H-H-Hinata-san? Ah, g-gomen!" He started turning bright red. Upon hearing the apology Shikamaru released the stuttering boy and he lowered his arms.

"So," Shikamaru started," Why don't you tell us who you and why you're attacking Hinata-san."

It turned out that his name was Ryoga Hibiki. He was on his way to Honey Country to enter the go tournament. He had to save his friend Akane, who was the first place prize of the tournament. The ninja trio agreed to let Ryoga travel with them, because they were all going to the same place.

"Why are you guys going to Honey Country?" Ryoga asked.

"Shikamaru's entering the go tournament. He's beaten everyone so bad that they kicked him out of town," Kiba joked. The three had come up with that story before the left Konoha, so that if they were seperated their stories would match.

"Then, then you can help me save Akane-san!" Ryoga said, his eyes growing wide with hope.

"Huh?"

"You can help me train for the tournament!"

"We'll see." Shikamaru replied uncomittedly.

The foursome made excellent time getting to Honey Country. When they arrived they immediately found a motel. The three ninjas made thier way to there rooms.

"Hinata," Shikamaru whispered.

"Nn," and with a few seconds of concentration whispered," Byakugan." The viens around her eyes became more pronounced and irisis went from silver to white.

"It's clear." The three proceeded into the room. In the room there was a queen sized bed and couch. Akamaru immediately laid claim on the couch and went to sleep.

"I'll kick him off there later," offered Kiba.

The three sat on the bed and planned.

"We have two days until the tournament. Tomorrow I'll go and register." Shikamaru stated.

"Hinata-chan and I can go looking for clues while you do that," Kiba offered.

"If we find where they're hiding the girl we meet back here before we make our next move." With that said the three of them decided to turn in for the night.

There was an unspoken agreement that Hinata would take the couch and the boys would share the bed, but apparently Akamaru didn't agree. He was sound asleep and not about to leave the comfort of the couch.

"D-don't worry a-about it," Hinata reassured, "I c-can s-sleep on the floor."

"You're not going to sleep on the floor."Kiba said," I'll sleep with Akamaru, you can take my spot on the bed."

"B-but Kiba-kun..."

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan. I'm used to sharing with Akamaru."

Through out this whole exchange Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspisciously like "Troublesome," under his breath.

Later that evening Shikamaru lay on his back staring at the cieling. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't figure out why that was. The plan for the first day was safe enough. He would register for the tournament while the others looked for clues. When he was done with that he would do his own sluething. He remembered the pictures that they were shown. _What did that poor brick do to make her so mad?_ he thought as he remembered the expression on Akane's face.

Just then Hinata rolled over to face him. He must have made a sound because she was awake as well. When he saw this he quirked an eyebrow at her. She just blushed and shook her head, burying it deeper into her pillow. He smirked a little at this a returned his attention to the cieling.

What was buggin him? It had something to do with the girl. _"Isn't it wierd how much Hinata and that girl looked alike?"_ he remembered Kiba saying. Hinata would have to change her appearance tomorrow. It wouldn't help anyone if Hinata got kidnapped... or would it? No, no, it wouldn't do to get to far ahead of himself. First they had to find Akane, then they had to address the situation. It would probably be helpfull if they found Ranma Saotome as well. Then they would know who to return the girl to.

Shikamaru's thought's turned to the tournament itself. _What kind of tournament offers a girl for its first prize? Are all the contestants so lonely that they can't get a girl any other way?_ _Just what exactly are you winning when you win the girl? Is it something like a date? If so, why kidnap her? What if it's marriage or se... _this thought was interupted by Hinata who sighed and moved closer.

Shikamaru's eyes widened. _Does she know what I was thinking?_ He turned his head to peak at Hinata to see what her reaction was, only to find her eyes closed.

He shifted the rest of his body onto his side to get a closer look at her. _She must be alseep_ he thought. Her breathing was deep and even and she looked relaxed.

Seeing her sleeping there peacefully made him tired finally. Yawning he snuggled down into his own pillow and closed his eyes.

When Hinata woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that her pillow was harder then she remembered. When she opened her eyes the first thing

she was Shikamaru's blanket clad stomach. Her eyes widened as she realized why her pillow wasn't as soft as she remembered it being. Slowly she raised her head and peaked over at Shikamaru's face.

_Please still be asleep, _she pleaded silently.

Someone must have been listening to her prayers because his eyes were closed. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully. He even had a cute little smirk on his face.

_Cute? When did Shikamaru become cute? _This thought cuased her to blush. As quickly as she could she got out of bed, grabbed her clothes and grooming supplies and escaped into the bath room. She spent some time splashing cold water on her face and trying to regain her composure. When she was certain that the very sight of Shikamaru wouldn't cause her to light up like a Christmas tree she went into the main room.

Shikamaru was pulling on a new shirt when she entered the room. Briefly she saw the way his muscular stomach contracted before it was covered by the netting of his shirt. She felt the way the blush moved up from her neck all the way to her hair line. Quickly she averted her eyes so that she was staring at the space in front of his feet.

Had she bothered to look up she would have noticed that Shikamaru had a matching blush gracing his features.

This moment of awkwardly shy lust was interupted by Kiba as he yawned loudly and stretched.

"Ohayo Shikamaru. Hinata-chan. Give me a minute and I'll be ready to go." He declared as he got off the couch went to the bathroom to get ready. This left Hinata and Shikamaru alone again, except for Akamaru. Akamaru decided that this was a good time to get attention from his second favorite person, so he walked over to Hinata and gently head butted her in the chest. This seemed to break whatever spell she had been under and she focused on the giant canine.

"Ohayo Akamaru-kun," she giggled as she scratched behind his floppy ears. "As soon as Kiba-kun is done, we'll get some b-breakfast and then start looking for that girl."

She giggled as Akamaru barked his response. She couldn't understand him, but she knew he could understand her.

She glanced over at Shikamaru and noticed that he was watching the exchange. He had a slight frown on his face, like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "O-Ohayo Shikamaru," she greeted shyly. He nodded his acknowledgement of the greeting and quickly looked away.

"How long can you hold a henge?" he asked gruffly.

"Ano...F-four to f-five hours. Why?"

"You look too much like the girl we're looking for. If they think that she escaped we lose our ace in the hole." He explained.

This explination made sense to Hinata. But instead of wasting chakra to change her appearance she went digging through pack. In her pack she had her handy dandy disguise kit. The same kit that every kunoichi is given after completion of make up class. Inside she found a pair of sunglasses and some spray on hair dye.

Quickly she bent over at the waist to keep her hair away from her face and efficiently began to spray the dye into her hair. When she thought that she might have gotten all her hair covered she flipped her head back and looked at Shikamaru.

"D-did I miss a spot?" she asked shaking her head back and forth so that he could see it from several different angles.

"You're a red head," he stated flatly. This reaction caused Hinata to giggle. He looked a little miffed at this reaction. "You forgot your eyebrows."

"Doumo," and she quickly fixed that.

"When did Gaara get here?" Kiba joked as he came out of the bathroom. "What's with the dye job?"

"I look t-too much like the girl. D-don't worry if r-rubs right off."

With that she slipped the dye into her kunai pouch. Then they left for breakfast.

After breakfast the ninjas went their seperate ways. Shikamaru was standing at the end of a long line when he saw Ryoga wandering by looking lost.

"Ryoga," he called.

The lost boy looked up, seeing the bored shinobi. "Hey Shikamaru. How's it going?"

"Eh," he replied," Have you registered for the tournament yet?"

"No, not yet. I couldn't find the line," was the sheepish reply.

Shikamaru gave the lost boy a wierd look. "Just follow me." he said as the line moved forward.

They were making small talk as they waited for their turn at the registration desk when someone caught Ryoga's eye. Suddenly Shikamaru could feel killing intent radiating off of Ryoga. "R-ryoga?" he asked.

"RANMA SAOTOME PREPARE TO DIE!" then Ryoga leaped into the air and onto a wet girl with bright red hair, pulled back into a braid.

"Oi! Ryoga you're going to loose the line!" he called after the enraged Ryoga. _Besides you can't just beat up girls_ he thought to himself. He watched in horror as Ryoga plummeted closer and closer to the girl. Then the girl jumped back in the nick of time.

"Yo Ryoga," the girl greeted cheerfully, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue Akane, no thanks to you," he growled.

"It's not my fault the stupid tomboy gets kidnapped all the time," the girl pouted.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT AKANE LIKE THAT!" screamed Ryoga.

The fight continued for several more minutes while wild accusations went flying thorugh the air. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at the antics of the two. _Kind of reminds me of Ino and Sakura. _"Oi! Ryoga, stop flirting and get back in line!" he called out maliciously. The two combatants stopped at this and turned their rage on the shinobi.

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!" they shouted in unision. Shikamaru just smirked. They got back in line and after waiting for what seemed like forever they made it to the registration desk.

"Name please," the woman at the desk said.

"Shikamaru Nara," he replied.

"Here's your number. First round starts at dawn. Next."

"Ryoga Hibiki."

"Here's your number. First round starts at dawn. Next."

"Ranma Saotome."

"This tournament is for men only." the woman responded.

"I am a man," the girl replied.

The woman just raised an eyebrow at the girl.

The girl sighed. "Do you have any hot water?" The woman handed over a cup of tea to the girl.

Sighing the girl poored the cup over her head and turned into the man from the photo. _That's something the Hokage forgot to mention, _Shikamaru though to himself.

"Ranman Saotome," the boy said in a deep tenor.

The woman at the desk didn't even bat an eyelash, "Here's your number. First round starts at dawn."

Hinata activated Byakugan. Sifting thorugh the numerous people would give her a headache after a while, but it was one of the quickest  
ways for her to find Akane. Slowly Hinata walked thorugh the streets. She was looking for someone with her basic shape, who was either tied up or unconscious.

As Hinata was walked through the town she heard a commotion. There was the sound of a fight going on. Hinata, like many of the people around her, started moving towards the commotion. Eventually Hinata saw a red head and Ryoga duking it out in the street. Keeping a cautionary watch on the two fighters Hinata began to scan the crowd. Eventually she saw what she was looking for.

She started making her way towards Akane might be, while deactivating her byakugan. While she threaded her way through the crowd she heard a familiar voice, "Stop flirting and get back in line." _Shikamaru_, she blushed. She didn't look back to catch a glimpse of the genius nin, she just kept moving forward, for once enjoying the warm feeling in her cheeks.

She turned multiple corners until she found the building that she thought Akane was in. She looked around to see if any one was looking and slowly approached a dirty window. Through the window she saw Akane, bound and gagged with a blind fold covering her eyes. Hinata noticed that she was wearing a rather unflattering school uniform that looked like a teal jumper.

She also saw what looked like a panda sitting in the corner playing a game of shougi with a middle aged man. The man had his back to the window, but he had long black hair and was wearing what looked like a dark green pair of pajamas. There was a third man in a different corner sitting in front of an ironing board. He was short, very very short. With white hair sticking out on either side of his head and a pipe in his mouth. There was a huge pile of what looked like panties beside him and he seemed perfectly content to fondle and iron them.

Hinata backed away from the window carefully, making sure to not trip over anything or make a sound. She made her way back to the motel room to tell the others what she had seen.

Akane sat in silence. Every once and a while the silence was broken by the sound of movement. There was the sound of something swishing back and forth over cloth and the sound of small pieces of wood or maybe plastic clicking down onto a hard surface. She probably should have been scared, but this felt like the millionth time that she had been kidnapped. As it was she was just bored.

Who ever had kidnapped her really knew how to tie knots. She had been working on this knot for what seemed like days. Everytime she thought that she had gotten close, the rope moved and re-tied itself. It was very annoying. _What's with this rope?_

She felt and heard someone approach her. Gently they removed her her gag. _This is my chance!_ she thought as she inhaled deeply. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, a spoon shoved its way into it. Instinctively Akane closed her mouth so that the spoon wouldn't hit the back of her throat.

"Hmmph!" she said angrily.

"Eat!" a gruff voice, that sounded vaguely familiar, ordered. That's when Akane realized that she was hungry, so she swallowed the spoonful of rice already in her mouth. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but was interupted by another spoonful of rice. Every time she opened her mouth to demand an explination, a spoonful of food was shoved in. The last time she opened her mouth, instead of a spoon, the gag was placed back in her mouth.

Akane growled deep in her throat. _This is new. Even Pantyhose Taro let me talk._ Whoever had kidnapped her this time, didn't want me for personal reasons.

Usually when she had been kidnapped in the past it was by someone who either wanted to marry her or get back at Ranma.

_Ranma,_ she thought_, You had better hurry up and save me. These are no ordinary kidnappers._

Hinata rushed back to the motel room. When she got in, the first thing she did was grab a towel and rub the red out of her hair. It wasn't until she rubbed the last of the dye out of her eyebrows that she remembered that the three of them were supposed to meet at a local food cart at noon. When she looked at the clock she had five minutes to get to the restuarunt, not enough time to reaply the dye.

Shrugging she left the room. She hurried to the food cart, but slowed when it came into view. She scanned the crowds for signs of Kiba or Shikamaru. So far she was the first one there. She made her way up to the cart, keeping an eye out for her teamates.

"Hey sug," a distracted voice greeted,"What can I get you?"

"Ano... I-I'll take an order of shrimp okinomiyaki p-please," Hinata stuttered.

"Commin' right up."

It wasn't until the okinomiyaki was placed in front of Hinata that the okinomiyaki chef got a good look at Hinata, or at least the back of her head.

"A-Akane? Does Ranma know that you escaped?" The chef had long brown hair that was pulled back from her face. She wore a purple shirt with black pants and she had spatulas strapped across her chest.

"I-I'm no..." Hinata began, turning to face the chef, but the chef again wasn't paying much attention to her.

"Hey, Ran-chan!" she called out to someone behind Hinata, "I found Akane!"

"Akane?" a deep tenor asked, causing Hinata to spin around, "Akane!"

Unlike Ryoga, whoever this new guy was didn't try to squeeze her to death. Instead he gently grasped her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. Just as quickly he let her go, stepped back and started blushing as he looked at the space right in front of Hinata's feet.

"I'm glad that you're okay," he mumbled, and seemed to get even redder.

"Ano... my name isn't A-akane," Hinata offered apologetically. Now that she got a good look at the boy, she realized that this was Ranma Saotome, Akane's fiance.

"Don't joke around about this Akane," Ranma said, loosing the red and looking up at Hinata.

"B-but..." what ever protest she was about to give was cut off with a squeak as Ranma gripped her shoulders forcefully and pulled her so that she was nose to nose with him.

"I don't know what your game is Tomboy, but..." he started snarling, but slowly trailed off when he noticed that the girl in his arms had white eyes, not the choclatey brown ones that he was expecting. That and instead of the malleting rage that he had expected, he just saw slight annoyance at being manhandled.

The three shinobi sat across from the crew from Nerima. All were eating the delicious okinomiyaki that Ukyo, the chef, had prepared. 

"Gomen Hinata-san," Ranma apologised for the third time, "You just look so much like The Tomboy."

"T-that's okay Ranma-kun. I-I understand," was the exact same reply that she had given him the first two times.

_How can I report what's going on to Shikamaru without them finding out?_ she questioned, thinking furiously. Anytime she had needed to relay a message to Kiba or Shino on a mission, all she would have to do is is tell a bug or Akamaru. In fact they had taught Akamaru morse code so that he could relay messages to Kiba if talking aloud wasn't an option.

"Akamaru," she called softly, patting her knee quietly. When he came over, Hinata placed her hand behind Akamaru's ear and started tapping out her message.

_'Found Akane. Has three gaurds. One panda, one man in pajamas, one old man ironing underwear. Message over.'_ At the end of her message Akamaru barked happily tail wagging as he sat down next to Hinata. Kiba looked over and smiled at the two. Message recieved.

_Maybe I should try the same thing with Shikamaru? Demo...that would mean I have to touch him! _Her cheeks warmed up at the thought. As her right had continued to bring food to her mouth, Hinata's left had went to Shikamaru's knee. She could feel him stiffen slightly at the contact.

_'Do you know morse code?'_ she sent. One of Shikamaru's hands went under the table and moved her had from his knee and held it in his hand. Hinata could feel more heat rising to her cheeks.

She was so shocked at the contact that she almost missed his reply. '_Yes. What's up?'_

_'Found Akane. Has three gaurds. One panda, one man in pajamas, one old man ironing underwear. Message Over.' _She told him. Making sure he had the same information that she gave Kiba.

_'Good. Registered for tournament. Made contact with Ranma. Discovered he is a transvestite. Message over.' _Hinata, with her free hand, offered Akamaru a piece of Okinomiyaki and began sending Shikamaru's message to Kiba.

"So, Shikamaru-honey. What are you going to do if you win the tournament?" Ukyo asked.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked suspiciously.

"Well, if you win, you win the girl. She legally becomes your fiance. Legally annulling all privious engagements," Ukyo said gleefully. At this Ranma paled a little.

"Is that even legal?" Shikamaru said looking thoughtful. Then he shrugged _'Sorry about this'_ he said to Hinata. "What would I need with another fiance anyway?"

"What fiance?" Kiba asked, "What girl would have a lazy ass like you?"

"Hinata-chan agreed to marry me last night," Shikamaru shrugged. Hinata's eyes widened at this announcement. Any of the blush that had drained from having Shikamaru holding her hand came rushing back to her cheeks with a vengence.

"Sh-Shikamaru-kun," she squeaked.

"Well congraulations," Ukyo said, "But now what are you going to do if you win the tournament? Your engagement will be annulled if you win."

"I'll think of something," Shikamaru assured with a smirk.

Back at the motel room.

"So, what's the plan?" Kiba asked.

"Well, we have to free the girl. The best time for this will be before dawn, right before the tournament starts. Then, after the tournament starts we return her to Ranma with some story about how she escaped on her own," Shikamaru stated.

"D-demo... w-wont the security around Akane b-be extra tight right b-before the tournament?" Hinata asked.

"It will be, but if we rescue her right before the tournament they won't be able capture her back in time," he explained.

"B-but wouldn't it be safer if we got her out sooner and Akane with a clone or something? T-then her c-capturs wouldn't even look for her, they would just assume that she w-was where she was s-supposed to be." Hinata suggested.

"None of us can hold a clone for that long. If Naruto were here we could do it, but he's not," Shikamaru said, shaking his head. Hinata and Kiba nodded at this. "So here's how it's going to go down. Kiba, did you bring any smoke bombs?" Kiba nodded, "Good..."

The sleeping arrangement was the same as it was last night, due to the excessive amount of dog hair on the couch. When Hinata woke up at the designated time, she noticed that she was in the same position that she was in when she woke up before._ What is it about Shikamaru? I'm never like this with Shino or Kiba when we sleep together on a mission. _Again, Hinata took a peak at Shikamaru, but unlike yesterday, this morning he had his eyes open and he was looking directly into Hinata's eyes.

Hinata quickly backed away from him, turning a new color of red. "O-ohayo Shikamaru," she said to fill the awkward silense. When he didn't immediatly reply she peaked up at him and immediatly wished that she hadn't. Shikamaru wore a disappointed expression as he watched her. There was a slight flush to his cheeks, but Hinata assumed that that was because he had just woken up. _I shouldn't have forced myself on him like that..._

Hinata got out of bed and made a hasty retreat to the bathroom before Shikamaru could say anything more.

Shikamaru couldn't think. He woke up to feel Hinata pressed tightly against him. What was even wierder, was his arms were just as tightly wrapped around her. _What is it about Hinata? I never grab Ino when se sleep together on a mission._ In fact Shikamaru rarely made un necissary contact with his blond team mate. Admittedly this is mostly because Chouji, his best friend, was interested in her, but also because Shikamaru finds girls troublesome.

Just as Shikamaru unwrapped his arms from Hinata, he could feel her wake up. When she turned to face him, he couldn't move. His eyes just fixed onto hers.

When she leaped away from him he couldn't supress the feeling of disappointment. _She really wants to get away from me. _He noticed that her lips moved but he couldn't hear what it was that she said. Then suddenly she leaped off the bed and disappeared.

_I just blew it, _he thought. Not quite sure what it was.

The three shinobi stood outside of the building that Hinata had found Akane in. They peered through the window and saw a similar scene to what Hinata had seen yesterday. Except the three gaurds were standing at attention, getting ready to move their hostage. The three backed away from the window and positioned themself in front of the door leading into the room.

"Hinata," Shikamaru promted, starting the plan.

"Byakugan," Hinata whispered. She then held up her hand with three fingers sticking up. Slowly she lowered them individually. When she got to no fingers she pointed to Kiba, causing him to kick in the door and through a smoke bomb in. Hinata grabbed hold of Shikamaru's wrist ran into the smoke, using her byakugan to guide her.

She got to Akane without a probelm but once she got there, the plan went to hell. When Hinata reached Akane she noticed that the rope was infused with chakra, meaning that she couldn't undo the knot keeping Akane tied at the time, which meant that she would have to be carried out. Hinata passed Akane to Shikamaru and pushed him gently towards the exit, but something tripped her. Involuntarily Hinata cried out as fell to the ground.

Upon hearing her cry out Shikamaru half turned to look back at her. He would have gone back to help her up, but the smoke was beginning to thin and he needed to get out with the girl. Once he got through the exit he rushed to the agreed upon hiding spot and turned around to watch the door.

_Come on Hinata. Get out the door._ he urged her silently. When, after a few minutes she didn't emerge he began to panic. _They got her! They got her and they aren't going to let her go!_

Shikamaru put Akane down on the ground and got up to do something stupid. He wasn't sure what it was going to be, but his body kept urging him to do it.

Before he could initiate the action though, the small old guy looked out the door. He looked back and motioned the other two to follow him. In between the man in pajamas and the panda walked Hinata. She was wearing the unflattering teal jumper that Akane wore and she was blind folded and gagged. _They think she's Akane._

"What the _fuck_ happened!" was the first thing Akane heard after a long period of silence. The voice sounded deep and angry, like it was in a permanent growl.

She felt hands behind her trying to untie the knot. She also felt a heavy sigh on the nape of her neck.

"We got the girl, but on our way out Hinata tripped. I couldn't help her get up, I had to get the girl out of there. I had to trust that she could handle herself," this voice came from directly behind her. It was a very matter of fact voice, trying to devoid of emotion. The only thing giving away emotion was the slight tremble of his hands as they worked on the knot.

"Great! Now what?" Akane flinched as something wet struck her cheek. She started making noises, hoping that these new people would take the hint and take her blindfold off as well as her gag.

"Stop spitting at me and help me untie her," the voice from behind her said.

"Not until you tell me what you're going to do about."

She heard yet another sigh, "Plan still holds. We untie her and return her to Ranma during the first round."

"What about Hinata-chan?"

"I'll think of something."

"Better think fast, the tournament is about to start."

"Shit," was all Akane heard before she felt a sharp object press up against her wrists. It was gone before she could flinch and she felt the ropes loosen. Slowly she moved her arms forward, ignoring the pain this caused due to cramping. She was debating which to undo first, her blind fold or her gag, when she felt that same sharp object on the back of her head.

The first thing Akane saw in three days was the white muzzle of a very big dog. She would have crab walked back away from the dog quickly, but her arms protested too much. So instead she leaned as far away from it as she could.

"N-nice doggy..." she whispered more to herself then the dog. A hand shot out of no where and pushed the muzzle out of her face.

"Don't mind him. He's just checking to see if you're all right," the angry voice said, except it wasn't angry anymore. When she looked up she saw a tall tan boy, with messy brown hair and red marks on his cheeks. "I'm Kiba, the guy behind you is Shikamaru and we're here to get you back to Ranma."

"Why didn't Ranma come get me himself? He always rescues me," Akane asked. _Probably to busy celebrating that he finally got rid of the 'uncute' to come rescue me himself._ she thought darkly.

"He's working on it. We're just making sure you get rescued," Shikamaru said. "Kiba take her back to the room and get her cleaned up. Then take her to Ranma. Remember," he ordered looking at Akane, "you rescued yourself. I'm going to get Hinata." This last sentence was said more to himself then to anyone else.

_Gotta win the tournament. Gotta win the tournament,_ were the only thoughts in Ranma's head. _Gotta get back The Tomboy. Gotta win the tournament._

Ranma never bothered questioning why he needed to rescue his fiance, he just always did. Sometimes it was as easy as not having a place to stay if Akane was gone, but other times there was just the need. The need to make sure she was safe, the need to have her in his life. Everytime she was in trouble he could feel his heart stop beating, and he knew that if anything bad happened to her he was in deep shit.

Ranma was so intrapped in his thoughts that he almost missed the sight of his new friend Shikamaru building hopping towards the tournament._ He's in a hurry, _Ranma thought as the pony tailed boy just started speeding up. _What's his rush?_

_Gotta win the tournament. Gotta win the tournament, _were the only thoughts going through Ryoga's head. _Gotta get engaged to Akane. Gotta beat Ranma._

These thoughts kept flitting through Ryoga's head as he made his way out of town and towards Tokyo.

_Gotta win the tournament. Gotta win the tournament, _Shikamaru thought, trying to clear his head of everything that could go wrong if he didn't win. _Gotta stay cool and calm. Can't think about Hinata._

Of course this brought memories back of this morning and and yesterday at the okinomiyaki stand. Also the night before when they had made eye contact before going to sleep. This also brought memories back of their first chuunin exam and watching her coughing up blood, seeing the medics carrying her still form out of the arena. All these thoughts just made him speed up as he got closer to his destination.

Kiba rushed Akane back to their motel room. On the way he explained what had happened while she was kidnapped.

"So, Ranma is entering the tournament because I am the first prize and my sisters hired you three because Ranma's no good at board games," Akane said finally.

"I don't know why exactly we were hired. All I know is that Ranma doesn't know that we were hired, which is why you rescued yourself."

"Gotcha."

While Kiba rifled through Hinata's disguise kit, looking for something they could use to change her appearance, he described the three men who were holding her hostage.

"Oh really?" there was a dangerous twinge to her voice that sent chills down Kiba's spine.

The tournament hall was packed with men of all agaes trying to win the pretty girl. Even though the first place prize wasn't going to be announced until after the first round, everybody knew that the first prize was a legally binding engagement to a pretty girl. Not surprisingly, many an angry wife had interupted the first round by dragging thier husbands out by the ear. Their opponents winning by default. Ranma had made it to the second round automatically when his opponenet, Ryoga, never showed.

_Probably go lost again, _he thought as he sat around waiting for the second round to begin.

Shikamaru wasn't so lucky. He was placed against an old man who really knew the game. He was having a challenging time defeating this guy. So finally he closed his eyes and assumed what his sensei referred to as "the thinking pose." All his fingers conected and he placed his hands so that his thumbs were pointed out towards his opponent.

"Make your move," the old fart urged impatiently. Shikamaru ignored him as he imagined the playing board. After several seconds, almost a minute, he opened his eyes and placed his piece just so, winning him the game.

After his victory, Shikamaru looked for Ranma, who was sitting still looking bored. Not Shikamaru's kind of bored, where he's relaxed and enjoying the boredom. No Ranma had Kiba's boredom, where he wants to be doing something but he knows he can't. He also noticed that there was a distinct lack of Akane anywhere on the premise. _Hurry up Kiba._

When the last match was finished there was a bell, signalling that the second match would begin in 5 minutes.

After falling, Hinata tried getting back up. Something was wrapped around her ankles though. Thinking quickly she transformed into Akane, keeping her byakugan

activated so that she could see through the blindfold. She was escorted from the building to the back of a stage, behind a curtain. That was when she was untied and left alone in a cage. Quickly she released the transformation and got to work unlocking the cage door. Before she could get too far with the lock, the curtains began to part.

Quickly she stopped what she was doing and turned around to face a crowd of men of all ages. She could feel her face turning bright red as a voice to her right started talking.

"This young lady is your first prize!" the announcer called. "She will become legally engaged to be married to whomever wins the contest. Now who wouldn't want to be engaged to a pretty little filly like this?" the announcer questioned. The crowd of men answered by cheering and stomping their feet. "Now, Little Lady, why don't you tell us a little about yourself."

Hinata didn't respond at first, instead she was doing a series of hand gestures to activate the body transfer jutsu. Nothing happened. The cage must have a chakra dampener built into it. _Well, shit_.

"Ano..."Hinata started, taking a deep breath. Now was not the time to stutter. "My name is Hinata. I'm 16 years old. I'm a capricorn. I enjoy cooking, caligraphy, and becoming stronger."

"Very nice, very nice. Isn't she darling?" the cause much whooping and hollering among the crowd.

_Gotta win the tournament. Gotta win the tournament, _Ranma thought as the began to part. _Gotta save the Tombo... That's not Akane!_

Ranma felt a rush of reliefe that if wasn't Akane on stage. He'd been lucky in the first round, but he had been worried about this tournament. _Can't rely on luck all _

_the time._ So, when he saw that it wasn't Akane he began to relax, until the next thought hit him.

_Where's Akane?_

Before he could get up and start yet another frantic search through the city to find her, Ranma someone poke the back of his head.

"Your back's wide open," a familiar voice admonished. Ranma relaxed yet again as his fiance leaned into view and smiled that rare cute smile of hers.

Shikamaru watched as the couple reunited. It was cute, not passionate like he had expected. _Who would have thought that Ranma would be so shy?_ he thought with a smirk. He then looked for Kiba, who was presently sitting next to Akamaru, obviously wanting to be anywhere but there, sitting watching a bunch of guys playing a board game.

There she stood, her face slowly returning to a normal color. Her silver eyes were scanning the crowd, looking for familiar faces. First it landed on Ranma and Akane's reunion, which brought this really cute smile to her lips. Then she saw Kiba, his leg pumping up and down, causing her to giggle. Finally Hinata made eyecontact with Shikamaru.

When Hinata's eye's met his Shikamaru tried to smile reassuingly. That was when he realized that he wasn't very good at it. His teammate rarely looked to him for reassurance. They looked to him for ideas and leadership, and the occasional cloud gazing session, but the always looked to someone else for comfort.

Apparently though, this was enough because the smile she returned to him made his heart stop. _Gotta win the tournament! Gotta win the tournament! Save Hinata. Get more smiles like that._ With those thoughts Shikamaru began winnng the tournament.

A year after the tournament Shikamaru and Hinata had their wedding. Everyone in Konoha was there, mostly because they couldn't believe that it was actually taking place. "Shikamaru's too lazy to get married," everyone said.

When word of this reached Hinata, nine months into their engagement, she got a determined look on her face. She was in the middle of a training session with Kiba and Shino when she called it to a halt. This had never happened before, so Kiba and Shino followed her. As she continued to walk through the town the number of people following her increased. She made her way to the roof of Shikamaru's favoirte cloud viewing building. When she got there, she saw him laying on his back, shading his eyes from the sun. Chouji lay next to him, quietly munching on potatoe chips.

"Shikamaru-kun," she said quietly but firmly.

"Hey 'Nata-chan," he said turning his attention to his fiance, "What's up?

"Y-you are g-going to m-marry me," she stuttered, still sounding firm.

Shikamaru quirked an euebrow at the uncharacteristic display of bravado. "What, now?"

"N-no. T-three months from today."

Shikamaru didn't respond right away. Instead he blinked a few times at her, tipping his head to the side. Then he got that self satisfied smirk on his face and turned is attention back to the clouds, "Fine with me."

This caused her to smile that same smile she had 9 months ago in that cage. Then she did something that surprised the genius ninja and all the people watching the scene. She went and lay next to her groom to be, and kissed him. There was a stunned silence then the crowd broke out into aplause, whistling, and cat calls.

Hinata, who had been too focused to notice the large group of people following her, turned the brightest shade of red yet, burying her head into Shikamaru's chest.

Shikamaru just put his arms around her and started at the clouds with an embarassed smile gracing his slightly flushed cheeks.

Shikamaru remembered the moment as he watched his future bride walk down the isle. _She's taking her time, _he thought as an unfamiliar grin spread across his face. Hinata seemed to float slowly down the isle towards him. When she finally reached him, his palms were sweating and he had to rub them on his trousers before he took her hands. They exchanged their vows and had thier first official kiss as a married couple.


End file.
